


A Perfect Storm

by junko



Series: Senbonzakura's Song [41]
Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M, Original Character(s), Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-18
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 04:07:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2637413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some days it seems like the cards are stacked against you.  This is one of those days for Renji.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Perfect Storm

Byakuya and Hirako had just settled the last of the details of her engagement to Shinobu, the young heir, when there was a brief knock on the door and a female voice happily announced, “Shitsureishimasu!”

The words ‘indeed you are being quite rude, madam,’ died on Byakuya’s lips when he saw it was oh-gods-what-was-her-name-that-umpteenth-cousin-of-his-with-the-silk-worm-farm. She looked as old as the Captain Commander and, although she was a far distant relation, politeness required he rise to his feet. “Auntie,” Byakuya said kindly, in lieu of being able to dredge up her name. “How can I help you?”

She clung to the edge of the door like it were a cane and said conspiratorially, “Well, I do think you may have a problem, dear Byakuya-chan. My lady-in-waiting’s lady’s maid told me that her sister, the kitchen girl, who was on her way to help the scullery girls, saw your lieutenant, the big bruiser with all those terribly frightening tattoos, going after the little heir.”

It took Byakuya a few seconds to untangle that sentence and he still didn’t think it could possibly make sense. “Who saw Renji doing what?”

The doddering auntie frowned and cocked her head like she hadn’t quite heard. “Well, I’m not sure how orange he is, dearie, I would say more of a redhead. I dare say whatever color he is, your lieutenant slipped his leash again, if he’s tossing that sweet little boy around like they say.”

Byakuya glanced at Hirako, who shrugged. She had no idea what this auntie was saying either. But, she’d stood up as well, and now walked over to offer the old lady an arm. “It must have been a shock, eh, Auntie Akiko.”

Ah, yes, that was the woman’s name. Ironically, Hirako had been partly named for this one. 

Hirako’s offer to lead Auntie Akiko away, however, didn’t go quite as planned. The old lady clutched at the door and glared at Byakuya, “Aren’t you going to do something, boy? What if your man assaults the heir!?”

_Assault? _That word and the judging female tone jittered through Byakuya’s mind uncomfortably. “I highly doubt Renji—“__

“Taicho?” Another female face appeared at his study’s door. This one belonged the Third Seat. “Um, sorry to interrupt, sir, but Captain Ukitake is looking for Lieutenant Abarai and I can’t find him anywhere.”

What in the name of all the gods was happening with Renji? “Yes, yes!” Byakuya said, losing his composure momentarily under all the feminine pressure. “I will see to him. Out of my way.”

#

As he put the last bit of paperwork in the ‘done’ pile, Renji felt pretty accomplished, especially since he wasn’t even supposed to be on duty for another fifteen minutes. If the Third Seat ever made her way back, Renji figured he had enough leverage to lean on her to cover things for a few minutes so he could actually make some headway on the birthday plans. When the door opened, he looked up expectantly, ready to give Nanako a whole lot of good-natured teasing over having been away for so long.

But, it was Byakuya… no, scratch that, this was Kuchiki-taicho, and he looked so furious that Renji was on his feet at the same moment the soldiers who’d been checking the duty roster hit their knees. 

“Sir?”

“Why am I hearing reports you had your hands on the heir?”

Renji’s mouth opened, and then it closed. The three soldiers who’d had their heads bowed, glanced up curiously. Renji was pretty sure that his face was going through all sorts of contortions as he tried to figure out what the hell to say. Not to mention he could feel a blush forming at this very public dressing down. In his own damn office, no less.

Thing was, it was technically true, but what the hell, Shinobu said they were cool! Why was he getting in trouble for this?!?

“You don’t deny it? Renji, what were you thinking? They’re saying you were violent with him.”

“Look, it wasn’t—can we move this discussion to your office, Taicho?” Renji glanced meaningfully in the direction of the soldiers, who quickly ducked their heads again.

“We can, but I want an answer now,” Byakuya said.

Renji glared at Byakuya, because, seriously, could he not get the hint? This public display was doing Renji’s Divisional authority no favors. Couldn’t Byakuya figure out that maybe Renji was trying to signal that the any kind of detailed and reasonable response would contain sensitive information? 

If they were alone, Renji would have plenty of answers for Byakuya, but with an audience, he was in a bind. 

Sassing back, as tempting as it was, was not an option. Not to the captain. Not with Renji’s very public record of insubordination.

“Fine, okay, look, I made a mistake,” Renji said. He had to clench his fists at his side to keep from crossing his arms in front of his chest defensively. “I had my reasons, but they were wrong-headed. As for the rest, I would really prefer to explain myself in private, sir.”

Finally, Byakuya seemed to twig to the fact that they had the attention of every single soul within earshot. Saying nothing, Byakuya turned on his heels. 

Following as Byakuya marched out, Renji kept his eyes firmly focused on the bit of the number six on Byakuya’s haori that peeked out from under the folds of the heirloom wildflower silk scarf. 

Renji knew there would be whispers in their wake. He was sure what people would be saying, too. It would be the same old shit about how Renji had clearly fucked something up again, because he was that guy, the one who couldn’t win any fight, and how it was a miracle a Sixth Seat from the Eleventh could even hold down a lieutenancy. Worse, they’d probably start to wonder if this was the reason Renji was always sent off on missions: because bashing heads was the only thing a guy like him could possibly any good for.

Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Renji tried to calm down. 

It didn’t really work.

Because in the brief walk across the quad, Renji had time to get pissed off at Byakuya’s use of ‘lay hands,’ like, what the fuck, way to rub Renji’s nose in the whole dirty dog thing right from the get go. Even though Renji knew it was ‘not his place’ the second he grabbed the heir, it didn’t mean Byakuya needed to go pointing that sort of thing out in front of people Renji was supposed to command. There were plenty in the Sixth who’d joined up because of Byakuya’s nobility. The last thing Renji needed was for those sorts to start feeling they could put on airs with him, because Renji could only knock them down a peg if the captain had his back. This ‘you got no right to touch’ bullshit was the opposite of support in the matter.

By the time he was kicking off his sandals in front of Byakuya’s office door, Renji was forcibly holding back a growl.

Zabimaru’s echoing spits and snarls weren’t helping.

But, Renji was determined not to lose his shit. So, he snapped to attention even as Byakuya was turning to start up again, “Why are my ancient aunties convinced you assaulted the heir?”

Okay, that one stunned the anger out of Renji for a moment. “I… what?”

Byakuya pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, and then he let out a sigh and said, “For some inane reason, the servants seem to be gossiping about you. They seem to think you’ve manhandled the heir, and given your lack of denial of the issue, I am beginning to wonder what happened, Renji.”

“I kind did manhandle him, okay? I might even have pushed him a little bit,” When Byakuya’s eyes widened, Renji continued, “Look, I already agreed that was stupid. He’s a slippery one, isn’t he? I thought he was going to get away from me before I had a chance to ask him what he was doing sneaking around in the garden.”

Dark, eloquent eyebrows knitted together. “Sneaking around? Which garden?”

“The garden we were in,” Renji explained, with a look to imply, ‘you know, the one we were kissing in.’

“Are you claiming Shinobu was spying on us? Is that why you went after him with such force?” Byakuya’s eyes were cold as they pinned Renji under their glare. 

“Not exactly,” Renji said, starting to feel seriously grouchy again. “And, I wouldn’t call it force. It was just a push.”

“I don’t care what you think he’s done. Don’t push the heir again, Renji.” Renji was about to open his mouth and point out that maybe Byakuya’d feel differently if the kid had turned out to be the poisoner, when Byakuya added, “That’s an order.”

Oh, that’s how this was playing out, was it?

Fine.

“Yes, sir,” Renji said, in his very best ‘fuck you anyway’ voice.

Apparently oblivious or adeptly ignoring Renji’s roiling spiritual pressure, Byakuya turned and settled behind his desk. He shifted some papers around, his eyes on his work instead of Renji. “What’s this I hear about Captain Ukitake looking for you? Did he find you? What was his business?”

Even though Byakuya hadn’t told him he could be at ease, Renji decided the shift in position meant he could relax his posture. Leaning his back against the doorframe, he finally gave in to the desire to cross his arms in front of his chest. “Just covering for his partner, as expected.”

“I see,” Byakuya said. “I take it you managed not to push the captain?”

It was such an obvious dig that Renji managed not to rise to it, and instead, deadpanned: “Barely. You know he would’ve done one of them hakuda tricks and just sidestepped me anyways, so I figured it wasn’t worth the effort.”

Byakuya’s lip twitched, like he was trying to decide if he found the quip amusing or irritating. 

“It’s clear you don’t trust me much to handle complicated situations,” Renji said, “But it was handled. We’re all friends again. The captains want to have us to dinner.”

“What?” Byakuya finally looked up from his desk. “Friends? How is it you managed that? And, are you sure it was wise, Renji? Kyōraku may have had Daisuke poisoned.”

“Yeah, well, maybe he did. You want to go after him over it? Be my guest. I ain’t no rocket surgeon, but even an idiot can tell whatever he’s up to, Ukitake is deep in it, too. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seemed like the smart move was to back away slowly.”

Byakuya seemed to consider this a long time, and then he said, “Perhaps. But in the future, I would prefer you leave negotiating with captains to those at the same level.”

Did Byakuya suddenly forget that, with bankai, Renji was technically captain-level? “Ok-ay,” Renji said honestly. “I can promise that.”

“Good.”

It was obviously a cue for dismissal, but Renji didn’t budge. He stared hard at Byakuya willing him to, for once, budge just a little and maybe apologize for coming down on Renji’s head like a ton of bricks. It was a tiny damn push, Renji’d already apologized for it, and Shinobu hadn’t been the one to make the fuss, so what the fuck?

Byakuya ignored him, like he always did, pretending to be completely engrossed in a report on his desk. Renji knew for a fact that the storeroom’s yearly inventory was not that riveting, having written it himself. 

“I said I was sorry,” Renji said finally. “Can’t you understand how it might have happened? I thought, you know, for a brief second, that Shinobu could have been involved in the poisoning. He’s Captain Kyouraku’s cousin, he—“

“Refer to the heir as the young lord Kuchiki,” Byakuya corrected without looking up. “Perhaps the problem is that you’re far too familiar.”

It could have been a punch to the gut the way all of the air seemed to rush from Renji’s lungs. “Yeah?”

Still not looking at him, Byakuya said, “Yes.”  
Too familiar? Like, the servant was getting uppity, eh? What the actual fuck. 

This seemed so much like their same old shit that Renji had to wonder if this was some kind of dysfunctional, roundabout punishment for all their vanilla sex lately. _Yeah,_ Renji thought, _you always say it’s okay to touch, but it never really is, is it?_

So, Renji leveled a glare at Byakuya, pushed off the wall and said, “’Sakura,’ motherfucker.”

Byakuya was so startled to hear Renji’s ‘yellow light’ that, when his head snapped up fast, Renji swore he could hear the kenseikan’s silver chains tinkle. “Renji, you can not use your safeword in my office.”

“I just did. And, I think you need to respect that I’m telling you to slow down.” Renji said, striding over to the desk. He stood over Byakuya for a second before plunking down onto the floor, sitting tailor fashion. He crossed his forearms on the desk and leaned into Byakuya’s face. “Ten minutes ago you were leaving me with a kiss. Now you’re telling me to mind my place. What’s this really about?”

Byakuya’s face twitched. It wasn’t a lot, but there was a little spasm of lip and eye and brow. “I… Your behavior shamed me.”

Despite knowing Byakuya as well as he did, Renji still waited for more. When nothing else was forthcoming, Renji sat back and scratched his head. Okay, maybe there was a clue in those four or five words. Shame. That’s a pretty powerful one. Not, ‘embarrassed’ or ‘frustrated,’ but shamed. 

Also, usually succinct and straightforward, Byakuya had started with something about himself, but then shifted it to being on Renji. So, maybe Byakuya’s biggest issue was with himself, somehow. 

Okay, so this whole thing with the heir hadn’t come from Shinobu but someone else, some other family member. What had he said? Aunties, maybe? Yeah, that seemed right. Or maybe some aunt’s servant? 

Hmmm, Renji had to dredge the way back corners of his mind, but he thought he remembered that Byakuya’s big awkward dalliance with the stable boy had been discovered by a servant girl… or woman, right? Yeah! It had been Eishirō’s first wife.

Got it.

Byakuya had been triggered.

Maybe that was a for-shit theory, but it at least made some kind of sense and gave Renji something to go on. But, what was the right response? If things went on like they usually did, no amount of safewords were going to help because Byakuya tended to not hear any kind of ‘no’ when he got into his slapping down mode.

Renji needed help. 

“Hang on to that thought,” Renji said, getting up. “I’ll be back.”

In his wake, Renji left a very baffled Byakuya.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks go to Josey for her usual things that are usual, but invaluable.


End file.
